Widely considered one of South Africa’s foremost ceramic artists, Dyalvane was born in 1978 in the small village of Ngobozana, near Qobo-Qobo in the Eastern Cape. He grew up farming and looking after his father’s cattle herd – developing a deep connection to the land and his Xhosa culture that resonates powerfully through his work today. His medium of clay, or umhlaba (mother earth) is at its most fundamental a life-affirming connection to the soil.
Dyalvane completed a National Diploma in Art and Design at Sivuyile Technical College in Gugulethu, Cape Town, followed by a National Diploma in Ceramic Design from Port Elizabeth Technikon in 2003. In 2005, he and Zizipho Poswa co-founded Imiso Ceramics.
Dyalvane’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Design Museum in Gent, Yingge Ceramic Museum in Taipei, Iziko South African National Gallery (SANG) in Cape Town, NMMU Art Museum in Port Elizabeth, and the Corobrik Ceramics Collection of Pretoria Art Museum in Pretoria, South Africa. He has presented his ceramics in four exhibitions at Southern Guild and two exhibitions at Friedman Benda, as well as museums all over the world, including the National Art Museum of China, the Vitra Design Museum, and Iziko SANG.
A member of the International Academy of Ceramics, Dyalvane has received residencies in Denmark, France, the United States, UK, and Taiwan, and shares his knowledge through master classes and workshops in South Africa and internationally. He is the recipient of the 2015 Design Foundation Icon Award.
